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REVIEWED: Cloudpunk Is The Baby Sibling of Cyberpunk 2077 and There’s Nothing Wrong with That #Review #GamingNews #video – redcarpetreporttv.com

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Cloudpunk is in a weird place. This open-world RPG is a beautiful game in its own right and its been fun to play, but if you make a cyberpunk theme game in 2020 youre going to draw comparisons to Keanu Reevess latest thing well see him in next month.

Developed by: Ion Lands

Published by: Merge Games

Available for: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

When you first start cruising the skies of Nivalis, youll feel like youre a childish game wrapped in a Lego-themed acid trip. Spend some time with Cloudpunk and youll see how deep it actually is. This open voxel art world is quirky and gorgeous in its own way. Buildings can go up to 1000 feet, trains run throughout the city, and youll just spend a lot of time taking it all in while driving your flying car.

As bright as Nivalis can be when its night is warmed by the glow of neon framing even the smallest details of the city, theres a grime to it youll get to see. Playing as a delivery driver named Raina, the jobs you take will lead you down paths that reveal conspiracies, cults, and a criminal underworld.

Cloudpunk does peel back its narrative information slowly. My first hour was spent mostly talking to the people in the city which I never felt was leading me in the overall path I needed to go. Yet once the main story started to iris my paths in the game, the narrative was fantastic. As the player, youll make dozens of little choices that deliver heavy themes of anti-capitalism and questioning the establishment. Decisions youll make in the game affect every character you see and meet so dont take anything lightly.

In a game as deceptively simple-looking as this, attention-worthy characters are often an afterthought in development. Here youll get to know and shape Raina through dialogue that shows how meticulously fleshed in a result that comes away feeling like Blade Runner if it had more Arabic influences.

The gameplay is simplistic. Drive the car, deliver the package, talk to the people. Even mandatory parking to get out of your vehicle is done by a single button push. It can at times get repetitive but every time I felt like I was in danger of getting bored exploring something new unlocked and either thought it was too off the walls not to pay attention or it showed me a new part of the city. Especially when it gets into weird territory like human/robot love. Much of the game is parallel to a walking simulator but the design never truly lets it feel that way.

After 15hrs with the game, I never felt like I was or needed to bulldoze my way to an ending. It is truly about the journey in Cloudpunk. There are simply too many good layers to this world and at no time do I feel a need to bulldoze my way to roll credits. Cloudpunk might be looked down on because of its similar design choices to CD Projekt Reds Cyberpunk 2077 but what you get is a rich experience that can stand alongside even the best technical behemoth games of 2020.

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Tales of the Neon Sea is an upcoming cyberpunk-themed adventure game that’s heading for iOS – Pocket Gamer

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Tales of the Neon Sea is a cyberpunk-themed adventure game that's heading for iOS devices on October 28th. The game has previously released on Steam where it's received positive reviews from players since launch.

Sporting a pixel art aesthetic, Tales of the Neon Sea is set in a cyberpunk world where tensions and mistrust between humans and robots are escalating, as they always seem to do. Players will take on the role of Rex, a former cop who now plies his trade as a detective. He's tasked with investigating a murder that also suggests a robot rebellion may be on the horizon.

It promises a gripping tale as players investigate murder scenes and examine evidence to try and determine the events that lead to the murder whilst getting a deeper look at the past of Rex himself. As is traditional in these types of adventure game, players can also expect to solve an array of puzzles alongside chatting with numerous NPCs.

You can check out a trailer from the PC version of the game in the embedded trailer above. If you're a fan of adventure games and cyberpunk as a setting this one might be worth keeping an eye on. There are a few creepy elements at play in both the soundtrack and the plague doctor-inspired Grim Reaper that stalks Detective Rex throughout the video.

Tales of the Neon Sea is available to pre-order now over on the App Store ahead of its release on October 28th. It will be a premium title that costs $3.99. Alternatively, the game is also available over on Steam at a higher price.

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Tales of the Neon Sea is an upcoming cyberpunk-themed adventure game that's heading for iOS - Pocket Gamer

Analyst Believes Black Ops Cold War Will Outsell Cyberpunk 2077and AC Valhalla – EssentiallySports

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

The most exciting time in this roller-coaster of a year has finally arrived. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles will be out soon. Along with these next-gen consoles, next-gen games will also make their way to different platforms. Interestingly, the November launch line-up is going to be highly competitive as 3 different AAA titles are releasing.CDPRs Cyberpunk 2077, Ubisofts Assassins Creed Valhalla, and Activisions Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War are all set to battle it out for the top spot. Although, a certain industry analyst believes that Cold War will emerge victorious here.

According to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, Black Ops Cold War will be the best-selling franchise in the US. He writes, Call of Duty will be the U.S. markets best-selling gaming franchise for the 12thconsecutive year.

This is quite a bold statement considering Cyberpunk 2077 has already won the Best RPG Game of the Year award at Gamescom 2020. Additionally, CoD is also a different genre than Assassins Creed Valhalla and CP 2077. This makes the prediction a little far-fetched.

Also Read: Myth Sparks Debate On SBMM in Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War

Although, he focuses on the point that BO CW will be the best-selling game in the US market. If he has only considered one market, his prediction might just come true. Additionally, the Call of Duty franchise has been one of the most successful ones in the US for years, which makes it possible that it will beat out its competition.

Although considering the global market, Cyberpunk 2077 would definitely be the favorite. The hype around the game is unreal, and it is already among the top 5 best-selling games on Steam. Moreover, it took almost 8 years for CDPR to develop the game and after seeing the Night City Wire episodes, there is no doubt that the game will be sensational.

Assassins Creed Valhalla does promise a great experience too, but comparing it to CP 2077 would be a little difficult. Both the games are RPGs but have very different mechanics, stories, and gameplay.

Cyberpunk 2077 releases on November 19, Assassins Creed Valhalla releases on November 10, and Black Ops Cold War Releases on November 13. The month of November is going to be exciting for gaming fans.

I love to play games of all kinds. You can usually find me casually teaming up with my squad to play the most random games ever. Oh, and I also manage to write about those sometimes

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Analyst Believes Black Ops Cold War Will Outsell Cyberpunk 2077and AC Valhalla - EssentiallySports

Beyond Cyberpunk: The Intersection of Technology and Science Fiction – tor.com

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

People with established careers are terrible sources of advice on how to break into their chosen field. When I was a baby writer, I attended numerous panels about getting established, where writers a generation or two older than me explained how to charm John W Campbell into buying a story for Astounding Stories. This was not useful advice. Not only had Campbell died six days before I was born, but he was also a fascist.

I have two careers, one in tech and the other in SF, a peanut-butter-and-chocolate combo thats got a long history in the field, and I am often asked how to break into both fields. I know an awful lot about how to sell a story to Gardner Dozois, who stopped editing Asimovs sixteen years ago and died two years ago, but I know nothing about pitching contemporary SF editors.

Likewise: I know an awful lot about breaking into the tech industry circa 1990: first, be born in 1971. Next, be raised in a house with a succession of primitive computers and modems. Enter the field in the midst of a massive investment bubble that creates jobs faster than they can be filled, when credentials are irrelevant.

Another advantage we had in the 1990s tech industry: cyberpunk. Cyberpunk, a literary genre that ruled sf for about two decades, was primarily written by people who knew very little about the inner workings of computers, and who were often barely able to use them.

But these same writers were, as William Gibson put it, attuned to the poetics of technological subculture (Gibsons degree is in comparative literature, after all). They wrote about how it felt to have mastery of technology, and what the ethical, social and personal connotations of that mastery were. In that regard, they were squarely in the tradition of the strain of sf that starts with Frankenstein and the technologists inner life of hubris, self-doubt, triumph and regret.

But the cyberpunks departed from that strain in their lionization of technologists: they made tinkering with computers rock-star cool, gangster cool, revolutionary leader cool. Untethered from the tedious business of having to deal with computers as they were, or even as they could be (given theoretical limits on computing), the cyberpunks were able to fuse the technologist archetype with the wizard archetype, creating protagonists who could use networks to project their will over billions of people without seeking permission or even facing real consequences.

This made for heady reading for young would-be technologists at that moment when, without permission, we were entering a field that had been reinvented as an uncredentialed wild west, where you could just write and release code, and, if others ran it, it would change the world. This was the era when a British physicist at a Swiss supercollider cobbled together a hypertext system in his spare time, released his rough-and-ready design into the wild, and announced that it was called the World Wide Web.

It wasnt just technologists who were captivated by the cyberpunks myth-making: it was their employers. Companies didnt understand what technology did, but they understood that it was doing something and that their companies needed to do that something, whatever it was. They hired us.

We learned on the job. Charlie Stross switched from his job as a pharmacist and became a computer programmer. He wasnt the only one. Science fiction has always attracted people with a technical bent, from Clarkes orbital mechanics to Capeks robots, and science fiction fandom was the first nontechnical online community, giving fans a reason to get online long before anyone else wanted to. The world of SF fandomfrom which most SF writers are drawnwas online early, and intensely, and thus when opportunities knocked for high-paid tech jobs, SF fandom (including writers) answered.

Cyberpunk writersthough not overly technicalinspired a generation of writers (Neal Stephenson, Charlie Stross, Annalee Newitz, etc) who were very technical, and these writers went on to both create a cyberpunk practice of technologyliberationist, politicized, subcultural, criminaland also to write fiction.

This post-cyberpunk fiction is just as attuned to the poetics of technological subculture, but with a significant difference: computers in post-cyberpunk fiction, are, by and large, not metaphors. Rather than imagining futuristic computers whose capabilities and limitations are defined by the plot, post-cyberpunk writers imagine futuristic plots whose contours are defined by the capabilities and limitations of computers from Cryptonomicon to my own Little Brother.

This is somewhat by necessity: cyberpunks metaphoricaland sometimes fantasticalcomputers (think of the AIs in Neuromancer) were easier to sell to an audience that had less direct experience with computers overall (in the same way that an audience of suburban Americans far removed from the frontier life might overlook the fact that a cowboys six-gun fired ten rounds before reloading).

But post-cyberpunk writers are obsessed with the technical reality of computers for other reasons. After all, so many of us work in the tech industry and are both constrained and informed by technical reality in our working and artistic lives.

But most of all, post-cyberpunk cares about the technical nitty gritty because of its relationship to the poetics of tech subculture and the hacker archetypes of cyberpunk. For your characters to have rock-star (Hiro Protagonist), gangster (Manfred Macx) or revolutionary leader (Marcus Yallow) cool, for them to embody the fusion of the technologist archetype with the wizard archetype, they have to know a lot about the underlying technical reality. They have to know its strengths and its weaknesses, and, most of all, where a lever can be used to make it lurch dramatically into a new configuration.

Todays tech industry is much more ossified than it was in the cyberpunk era: it has formal degree programs, certification systems, and training services without limit. But writers neednt get a technical degree to attain technical literacy: now more than ever, online communities exist to solve every kind of technical challenge and answer every kind of technical question. From communities like Quora to the Massively Online Open Courses at MIT, Stanford and the Open University (where Im a visiting professor), there has never been a better time to attain technical mastery.

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently Radicalized and Walkaway, science fiction for adults; In Real Life, a graphic novel; Information Doesnt Want To Be Free, a book about earning a living in the Internet age; and Homeland, a YA sequel to Little Brother. His latest book is Poesy the Monster Slayer, a picture book for young readers. His next book is Attack Surface, an adult sequel to Little Brother.

Beyond Cyberpunk: The Intersection of Technology and Science Fiction - tor.com

James A. Haught: We need to trust in science even when the answers are complicated – YubaNet

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

October 14, 2020 Long ago, I concluded that no reliable evidence supports gods, devils, heavens, hells, miracles, prophecies and other supernatural stuff of religion. Those magic claims simply arise from the human imagination, I assumed. Instead, I chose to trust the honest search of science to explain the ultimate mysteries of existence.

Aye, theres the rub. Answers by science are sometimes almost as baffling and logic-defying as the mumbo-jumbo of churches:

Multiple universes, for example. Or Einsteins assertion that time slows and dimensions shorten as speed increases. Or the mysteries of quantum weirdness, with particles popping in and out of existence in pure vacuum. Or the seeming impossibility of pulsars, which gravity compresses into a solid mass of neutrons weighing 100 million tons per cubic centimeter. Or the astounding claim at the heart of the Big Bang theory stating that all matter in a trillion galaxies originated from a proton-size dot exploding stupendously 13.8 billion years ago. Holy moly.

In his posthumous book, Stephen Hawking says the entire vast universe essentially burst from nothing, following laws of nature. The book,Brief Answers to the Big Questions, was compiled by colleagues and relatives from the physicists notes, materials and interviews just after his 2018 death. It reiterates his well-known atheism:

Its my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization: there is probably no heaven and afterlife either. I think belief in an afterlife is just wishful thinking. There is no reliable evidence for it, and it flies in the face of everything we know in science. I think that when we die we return to dust.

In a 2011 interview with The Guardian newspaper, Hawking said each human brain is like a computer, and its inevitable that some computers malfunction and die.

There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers, he said. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.

If no divine creator made the universe, what did? Blind laws of nature, he says:

Since we know that the universe was once very small perhaps smaller than a proton this means something quite remarkable. It means the universe itself, in all its mind-boggling vastness and complexity, could simply have popped into existence without violating the known laws of nature. From that moment on, vast amounts of energy were released as space itself expanded

But, of course, the critical question is raised again: did God create the quantum laws that allowed the Big Bang to occur? In a nutshell, do we need a god to set it up so the Big Bang could bang? I have no desire to offend anyone of faith, but I think science has a more compelling explanation than a divine creator.

Another of my science heroes is atheist-genius J.B.S. Haldane, who hatched the theory that life began in a primordial soup of chemicals. He saw that some science discoveries are almost impossible to believe. In 1928, he told a London newspaper: The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

When theologians hounded him about Gods creation, Haldane joked that the creator must have had an inordinate fondness for beetles, to make 400,000 different species. And Haldane spoofingly saluted Noah for finding pairs of all creatures to take on the ark, when there are numerous different species of birds just in India alone (where Haldane spent a good number of years).

As I said, findings by science can seem nearly as absurd as the miracle claims of religion but theres a crucial difference: Science is honest. Nothing is accepted by blind faith. Every claim is challenged, tested, double-tested and triple-tested until it fails or survives as true. Often, new evidence alters former conclusions.

Even though science findings show that reality is queerer than we can suppose, honest thinkers have little choice but to trust science as the only reliable search for believable answers.

FFRF Member James A. Haught, syndicated by PeaceVoice, was the longtime editor at the Charleston Gazette and has been the editor emeritus since 2015. He has won two dozen national newswriting awards and is author of 12 books and 150 magazine essays. He also is a senior editor of Free Inquiry magazine and was writer-in-residence for the United Coalition of Reason.

This essay is adapted from a column that previously appeared at Daylight Atheism on Oct. 12, 2020.

http://www.ffrf.org

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James A. Haught: We need to trust in science even when the answers are complicated - YubaNet

Mubarak Bala: Blasphemy And Anti-Atheist Repression In Nigeria – Modern Ghana

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Western missionaries introduced the Christian faith, while Muslim scholars and jihadists from the Middle East brought Islam. The 1804 Jihad led by Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodio enthroned political Islam in Northern Nigeria. De facto and de jure sharia law apply in Muslim majority communities. Sharia law informs the everyday life of the people, including how they interact with non-Muslims.

The place of sharia in post-colonial Nigeria has been a source of controversy, tension, and conflict. Sharia applied to personal and family issues until 1999 when Muslim majority states in Northern Nigeria started implementing the full sharia law that included punishments such as amputation for theft and the death penalty for blasphemy.

Some of the Muslim majority states include Kano, where Mubarak Bala was born, and Kaduna, where he was living until his arrest. In Muslim majority and sharia implementing states, Islamic privilege holds sway. Non-Muslims are treated as second class citizens. Non-Muslims, who are accused of blasphemy or desecrating the Quran, are attacked and killed with impunity. In Muslim dominated northern Nigeria, humanity or dignity is predicated on the profession of Islam. Non-Muslims who convert Islam are celebrated and honored and sometimes given financial rewards. Those who renounce Islam or espouse dissenting views, as in the case of Mubarak are disowned, persecuted, or killed.

Leaving Islam and persecution

Since Bala left the mental hospital in 2014, he has been the face of humanism, skepticism, and freethought in Northern Nigeria. Bala has been vocal in his criticism of Islam especially the violent campaign of jihadist groups such as Boko Haram. Bala has been critical of Islamic indoctrination and the practice of Almajiri. Almajiri refers to the practice of street begging by children who are learning the Quran in northern Nigeria. Children who are learning Quran roam the streets and beg for alms.

The proceeds are sent to their Muslim teachers. Some of the children come from neighboring countries including Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Cameroun. It has been noted that some of the children get radicalized and have been recruited to join jihadist groups. In his posts comments and articles, Mr. Bala continued to draw attention to the link between Islam as practiced in Nigeria and terrorism, poverty, and underdevelopment in Northern Nigeria. Islamic authorities found Balas writings annoying and irritating.

Bala was becoming a rallying point for many young critics and dissidents in the region. He was identified as the arrowhead of the emerging atheist, skeptical movement in the area. Until the emergence of Mubarak Bala, ex-Muslims have been in the closet and seldom go open and public with their views. Those who renounce Islam do not openly declare their apostasy.

Muslim apostates are not a visible and distinct identity or social group in Northern Nigeria. But with Mubarak Bala, the landscape of apostasy has been changing. Bala has been open about his rejection of Islam and has continued to openly and publicly criticize Islam, including the prophet of Islam.

Mubarak Bala has campaigned to change this culture of silence of Muslim apostates, dissidents, and critics. Bala has used his posts on Facebook to underscore the rights to freedom of religion and freedom from religion. Bala is of the view that if Islam based abuses must be rooted out, then the faith, teachings, and prophet must be criticized.

Insulting the prophet of Islam

In April, some Muslim lawyers petitioned the police in Kano state. They complained about some posts, which Mr. Bala made on his Facebook page. They said that Bala had called the prophet of Islam a pedophile and a terrorist. These Muslim petitioners said that these posts insulted the prophet of Islam and contravened sections of the Nigerian law that prohibited contempt on religion. To avoid a break down of law and order by Muslims, the petitioners argued, the police and the Kano state government should arrest and prosecute Mubarak Bala.

It must be noted that the Islamic religion is foreign to Nigeria. Muslim scholars and jihadists who introduced the Islamic faith criticized African traditional religion and other faiths. The Islamic declaration of faith is critical of other gods, prophets, and religions. It states that there is no other god but the Islamic god and Muhammad as the messenger. The Islamic religion is founded on the denunciation of other religious gods and prophets. Muslims dismiss other gods except for their god, Allah, and other prophets and messengers except for their prophet, Muhammad. Meanwhile, they do not tolerate criticisms of their god, Allah, and their prophet, Muhammad. Muslims regard the criticism of other gods but Allah and other prophets but Muhammad as an affirmation of faith. They designate the criticism of their religion and prophet as blasphemy and an offense punishable by death under sharia. But the case of Bala presents a challenge.

Arrest and Disappearance

On April 28, police detectives from the Kano state police command arrested Mubarak Bala in Kaduna. The following day they whisked him away to Kano where the police held him incommunicado. The police disappeared Bala and for months. They refused to disclose where and how he was detained. The police could not confirm if Mubarak Bala was alive or dead. Many Muslims posted on social media welcoming the arrest of Mr. Bala and threatening to kill him if the police did not severely punish him. Some Muslim fanatics threatened to arrest and prosecute other atheists who criticize Islam or post blasphemous comments on social media.

The police and the Kano state government have been in a dilemma over the case of Mubarak. Bala is not a Muslim, so they cannot charge or prosecute him in a sharia court as many Muslims in the region would have wanted. The prosecution in a state court where the punishment for blasphemy is a maximum of two-year imprisonment would not appease the Islamic base in Kano and beyond. The police decided to hold him incommunicado in a police cell and later, in a prison. Following months of international pressure on the Nigerian authorities, Mubarak Bala has been allowed to call from a prison where he is being held. No real progress has been made in his case in Kano and Abuja.

They want to save their lives and jobs. Above all, the police and government in Kano want to make an example with the case of Mubarak Bala. They want to reinforce Islamic privilege that holds sway in Kano and Muslim majority states. Muslim authorities want to discourage criticism of Islam and its prophet, apostasy, and blasphemy. The Islamic establishment in Northern Nigeria has been worried about the rise of atheism in the region. Last year, some Muslims organized a seminar to discuss the emergence of atheism and the connection with social media in Northern Nigeria. The activities of Mubarak Bala and other humanists and atheists were the focus of the meeting.

Muslims in Northern Nigeria are socialized to hate atheists and treat apostates and blasphemers with indignity and disrespect. There is no freedom of religion in the region. As a demonstration of faith in Allah and the messenger, Muslims are taught to persecute and murder infidels and non-believers. Contrary to what many Muslims say, there is compulsion in the Islamic religion as practiced in Northern Nigeria.

Since the arrest of Mubarak Bala, humanists and atheists have been living in fear of their lives. Humanism has an endangered outlook. Freethought has become a risky undertaking. The future of secularism is under severe threat. Nigerian authorities need to make clear their stand: Is the government for freedom and equality for all believers and non-believers, or repression, oppression, and persecution of atheists and humanists in the country?

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Mubarak Bala: Blasphemy And Anti-Atheist Repression In Nigeria - Modern Ghana

Ireland Will Begin Phasing Default-Catholicism Out of Many Secondary Schools – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

In Ireland, where the fastest growing religious demographic happens to be people with no religious affiliation, the government is taking a major step in secularizing the default-Catholic school system: They will soon be phasing out Christianity as the default option in many secondary schools.

Say goodbye to Catholic masses at graduation.

Say goodbye to crosses in the classroom.

And say goodbye to pop-in inspections from Church leaders. (Which is a thing that actually happens.)

The new rules will apply to more than 200 secondary schools run by the States Education and Training Boards (ETBs) formerly vocational schools which are officially categorised as multidenominational.

The framework for the recognition of religious belief/identities of all students in ETB schools outlines steps schools should follow to bring them into line with a multidenominational ethos. They include that any religious symbols on display must echo the beliefs of the wider school community rather than one particular religion. It also means schools that symbolically represent religious celebrations should ensure balance, such as a school displaying a crib at Christmas but also Islamic symbols for Eid.

Its a start. There are roughly 70 ETB schools that wont have to abide by these rules because they have contracts with the Catholic Church. Its also not clear how long this phase-out process will last. Its also bizarre how much religion creeped into these schools in the first place and unclear what the government is doing to ensure that never happens again.

Balancing religious beliefs leads to a variety of different problems; they would be better off just leaving religion out of school other than the academic study of it.

Atheist Ireland issued this statement reacting to the unpublished document listing the changes, pointing out that the proposed rules still exclude non-theistic perspectives.

This draft document shows that some people within the system recognise that things have to change. We already had evidence of this two years ago, when the Department of Education, after lobbying by Atheist Ireland, instructed ETB schools that they have to give an alternative subject to students who do not attend religious instruction. But in that case the ETBs resisted the change, and the Government withdrew the instruction.

The same thing is happening here. The draft document says that they want to operate a multi-denominational ethos, and that this will make the curriculum suitable for everybody. But atheism is not a denomination, and these new changes would not protect the rights of atheists. Also, it is only a draft document and does not in any way reflect the reality on the ground.

In recent years Atheist Ireland has empowered parents to stand up for their constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in these schools. But the ETBs are now trying to undermine that right by claiming that it only applies to religious instruction according to the rites of one religion. There is no legal basis for this opinion. It is not based on any case law and seems to have been just made up.

Atheist Ireland has recently obtained a legal opinion from a barrister on our constitutional rights in this regard, and that is the basis of our political lobbying at the moment. We need to have our rights vindicated in practice, not to read draft documents that seem to sound inclusive but still isolate atheist families.

If the governments goal was to end the criticisms, they messed up. They have a long way to go before this issue is resolved, and the longer they try to placate religious perspectives, the longer this process will take.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Andrey for the link)

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Ireland Will Begin Phasing Default-Catholicism Out of Many Secondary Schools - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

OPINION: MUBARAK BALA: BLASPHEMY AND ANTI-ATHEIST REPRESSION IN – thewillnigeria

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

The arrest of Mubarak Bala has foregrounded the dangerous situation of humanists and the vicious threat of Islamic extremism in Nigeria. Nigeria is a very religious society. Religious belief permeates all aspects of life, thought, and culture. In 2004, Nigeria was polled as the most religious nation in the world. People mainly profess Christianity, Islam, and a mix of traditional and Christian or Islamic faith. Both Christianity and Islam are foreign religions. Western missionaries introduced the Christian faith, while Muslim scholars and jihadists from the Middle East brought Islam. The 1804 Jihad led by Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodio enthroned political Islam in Northern Nigeria. De facto and de jure sharia law apply in Muslim majority communities. Sharia law informs the everyday life of the people, including how they interact with non-Muslims. The place of sharia in post-colonial Nigeria has been a source of controversy, tension, and conflict. Sharia applied to personal and family issues until 1999 when Muslim majority states in Northern Nigeria started implementing the full sharia law that included punishments such as amputation for theft and the death penalty for blasphemy.

Leaving Islam and persecution

Bala came out as an ex-Muslim in 2014, and his family did not take it kindly. Balas father is a foremost Islamic scholar and one of those behind the implementation of sharia in Kano. In response to his renunciation of Islam, Balas family consigned him to a mental hospital in Kano where he was treated as a psychiatric patient. Information about Balas maltreatment and persecution reached humanists and atheists who campaigned and rallied support. Humanists pressured the Nigerian authorities until Mubarak Bala was eventually released from the hospital. Since Bala left the mental hospital in 2014, he has been the face of humanism, skepticism, and freethought in Northern Nigeria. Bala has been vocal in his criticism of Islam especially the violent campaign of jihadist groups such as Boko Haram. Bala has been critical of Islamic indoctrination and the practice of Almajiri. Almajiri refers to the practice of street begging by children who are learning the Quran in northern Nigeria. Children who are learning Quran roam the streets and beg for alms. The proceeds are sent to their Muslim teachers. Some of the children come from neighboring countries including Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Cameroun. It has been noted that some of the children get radicalized and have been recruited to join jihadist groups. In his posts comments and articles, Mr. Bala continued to draw attention to the link between Islam as practiced in Nigeria and terrorism, poverty, and underdevelopment in Northern Nigeria. Islamic authorities found Balas writings annoying and irritating. Bala was becoming a rallying point for many young critics and dissidents in the region. He was identified as the arrowhead of the emerging atheist, skeptical movement in the area. Until the emergence of Mubarak Bala, ex-Muslims have been in the closet and seldom go open and public with their views. Those who renounce Islam do not openly declare their apostasy. Muslim apostates are not a visible and distinct identity or social group in Northern Nigeria. But with Mubarak Bala, the landscape of apostasy has been changing. Bala has been open about his rejection of Islam and has continued to openly and publicly criticize Islam, including the prophet of Islam.

Insulting the prophet of Islam

Arrest and Disappearance

In Kano, the police have approached a magistrate court. But the court has not formally charged Mr. Bala. For months, the police have refused to obey a court order granting Mubarak access to a lawyer. In Abuja, the process to enforce Balas fundamental rights has been stalled. The process has suffered delays and adjournments. These delays are deliberate. The courts do not want to make any ruling that would embarrass the sharia government in Kano. The judges are also being careful. They want to save their lives and jobs. Above all, the police and government in Kano want to make an example with the case of Mubarak Bala. They want to reinforce Islamic privilege that holds sway in Kano and Muslim majority states. Muslim authorities want to discourage criticism of Islam and its prophet, apostasy, and blasphemy. The Islamic establishment in Northern Nigeria has been worried about the rise of atheism in the region. Last year, some Muslims organized a seminar to discuss the emergence of atheism and the connection with social media in Northern Nigeria. The activities of Mubarak Bala and other humanists and atheists were the focus of the meeting.

*** Written by Leo Igwe.

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OPINION: MUBARAK BALA: BLASPHEMY AND ANTI-ATHEIST REPRESSION IN - thewillnigeria

Podcast Ep. 344: Can the Supreme Court be Fixed? – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

In our latest podcast, Jessica and I discussed the past week in politics and atheism.

We talked about:

Please subscribe to my new Substack newsletter!

A whites-only church wants to set up shop in Minnesota. Locals arent having it. (2:00)

Donald Trump fell for an article on a satirical conservative website. (6:25)

Trump needs to work on his pandering. Hes now saying only Jesus is more famous than he is. (9:27)

Trumps support among white evangelicals is slipping (15:37)

Anti-gay groups are already celebrating the eventual overturning of marriage equality. (26:46)

Two congressmen say interracial marriages are also on the chopping block. (33:00)

This could be a way to save the Court but its not pretty. (36:20)

Nashville authorities say theyre investigating a super-spreader event hosted by Christian preacher Sean Feucht. (42:25)

Someonecalled the cops after seeing a sleeping homeless man on a bench. It was actually a statue of Jesus. (51:10)

Anti-abortion groups are defending Trumps use of a COVID treatment that wouldnt have been possible without an aborted fetus. (58:18)

Wed love to hear your thoughts on the podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we should chat with, please leave them in the comments, too.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Google Play, stream all the episodes on SoundCloud or Stitcher, or just listen to the whole thing below. Our RSS feed is here. And if you like what youre hearing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon and leaving us a positive rating!

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Podcast Ep. 344: Can the Supreme Court be Fixed? - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

An open letter to Umar Khalid: If you are doing time, you may as well do it well – Scroll.in

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Dear Umar,

We ought to feel outraged at yet another fake case being slapped on a friend. But such are the times that when we heard of you being brought back from Tihar jail to police custody to be interrogated in yet another FIR, the first thought that came to our minds was that we would be able to catch a glimpse of you in person. And we did, however shortly.

We are aware that any letter written to you will be pried into by several pairs of eyes. But then, there is nothing that we cant talk about that isnt fit to be shared by other people. Hence this open letter. The gatekeepers are welcome to join. We only hope this reaches you in due time.

Time. You are probably settling into a parallel routine of time, a slow and sluggish one. It has already been more than a month. As we think about you, we realise that the phrase doing time is very unsettling. Even after all the reformatory thinking that has gone into the idea of prisons in the last century or so, this appears to be the pithiest expression of what one effectively does in jail. One does time, after all.

However, it is not so much the length of time that irks us, at least not yet. And that is because this is a witchhunt that had been unfolding for some time now. We all knew this was coming. The prominence that was being ascribed to you in the media trial had preceded your arrest made it amply clear that it was only a matter of time before theyd come for you.

For you, the context had been laid ago. The barrage of hateful content, misinformation and outright lies pumped into the public psyche by the media trials of the concocted Jawaharlal Nehru University case in 2016 had already made you the seditious villain, one that yielded them high TRPs. All that they needed to do this time is to ignore the real culprits of the February violence in Delhi, discredit the people protesting peacefully against the Citizenship Amendment Act and repackage you as the mastermind. So what, if you only spoke about harmony and equality? With a pliant media at their disposal yet again, the script remains the same.

At times, we feel you were probably over-prepared for this. So much so that in the weeks before you were finally detained, every odd knock on the door would trigger a firmness in your jawline. It is an irony that finally when the bearer, a constable, came with the summon, you werent home. And he didnt want to hand it to your mother because the Indian Penal Code, it seems, does not allow a summons to be handed over to a woman. Such a colonial throwback.

Did you know that? While the proportion of women behind bars reflects a certain gender parity in the ranks of the dissidents, the penal code remains sexist and regressive.

Anyway, to some extent, this time around, we all were prepared, ammi, us and you, obviously.

What irks us in fact is the sinking feeling that we will get used to your absence, that will let this get normalised.

After all, havent we become used to a lot in the last few years? We have become used to the incarceration of young minds who have been vocal advocates of equal citizenship that the Constitution guarantees.

We have become used to the incarceration of some of the best defenders of our hard-earned rights after fictitious charges have been used to frame them. As a nation we have become used to lynchings of Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis while they are recorded, live-streamed, shared, relished and even become the backdrop for selfies.

We have become used to a daily dose of misogyny, jingoism and hate-mongering on prime time television. We have become used to a lurking sense of fear, of midnight knocks, of self-censorship.

The gangrape and death of the Dalit woman in Hathras a few weeks ago and the perversion of justice that followed shows the deep the rot that has set into our body politic. The fact that we move on so easily shows the toxicity we are getting used to.

Come to think of it, your real crime was that you were one of the handful who have refused to get used to these realities, who have refused to be browbeaten into silence.

Your crime was your ever-restlessness and the fact that you refused to be paralysed by fear. Sedition charges, an assassination attempt, incessant social media trolling, death threats, media trials even youd agree that they gave you a fair share of warning.

Ziddi; stubborn you. As stubborn as Shaheen Bagh; as our octogenarian Bilkis daadi, now of Time magazine fame, who survived the harshest of winters on the streets to secure a future with izzat, dignity.

But it is your restlessness that worries us now when you are doing time. You must not live by the day anymore. Slow down. Dont rush. The last time, at least one of us was there with you to reign in your disquiet. This time you have to do it by yourself. Put the rush to rest.

As for the outside world, the video speech that you recorded to be released in case you were arrested, was a chronicle of events foretold. It revealed, in Eduardo Galeanos words, an upside down world. One in which hatemongers have a free run with no scrutiny, while those who speak of love, compassion, justice and solidarity are demonised.

One where provocateurs like Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra are hailed as heroes while turning into villains the thousands of people who marched through the streets of India in the winter to defend our Constitution. A world where the investigation into the Delhi riot has been turned into an inquisition of peaceful protestors demanding equal citizenship.

The 11,000-page charge-sheet, which is one of the longest pieces of fiction the world has seen, makes it clear that to oppose any government policy is a crime today. And that, to simply have been born Muslim is a crime.

It is rather amusing that there has been a debate in some circles as to whether you are an atheist or a Muslim. It is amusing because we find this debate quite banal. Because, to you, the answer is simple. You are a materialist with a deep sense of history. That is because your tool to interpret the world both in its physical and metaphysical realms is Marxism. Not as dogma, but more as a navigator.

In fact, Marx himself seemed to detest the silliness of the label atheism. In his words, it reminds one of children, assuring everyone who is ready to listen to them that they are not afraid of the bogey man. This juvenile banter for him made no sense as it is quite easy to deal with religion by just being against it. But it doesnt take one anywhere apart from a moral pedestal propped up on some sort of an ultimatistic ultra-leftism.

You were born a Muslim. You have always been reminded of it at every step while being refused delivery when trying to order pizza from a Muslim ghetto, to seeing extra-judicial police killings (euphemistically described as encounters) unfold in front of your eyes.

From being called a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammad group in 2016 to being accused of being a traitor, you have been hunted and taunted for being a Muslim. You couldnt have escaped it even if you wanted. Your crime is that you refused to be bracketed as just that.

Our rulers today are inheritors of an ideology that believes that if you are Muslim, you are not a citizen of equal worth in India. The recent amendment to the Citizenship Act reiterates this, by making persecuted minorities from the region eligible for fast-track citizenship except if they are Muslim.

Your crime was that, drawing from Marx, you claimed that one can be both a Muslim and also expect ones rights as a citizen to be safeguarded. The nation-wide movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the many Shaheen Baghs in fact advocated the same. They rejected any kind of binary politics: Hindu/Muslim or believer/secular. As immortalised in Amir Azizs Jamia ki Ladkiyan, what they taught us is that one cannot freeze a community in time. They cannot be easily bracketed into either fundamentalist or atheist.

A community, any community, is always in a state of flux. That reflects in its past, its present, its choices, its hesitations, its aspirations, its misgivings, its ideas, its contradictions. As we have discussed so many times before, you were a product of that condition of flux.

From the Babri masjid demolition in 1992 to the Batla House encounter in 2008; from your observant parents decision to give you the most liberal education, to your engagement with Marxism as a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, you were shaped by your family, your community and the events you witnessed. As your sister Zainab noted Umar Khalid couldnt come up in isolation; he is very much a product of the way he was raised.

How does one encapsulate that many layers in a simple binary?

The hustle and bustle of the protest sites across the country has been stilled by the pandemic. For the moment, there is a lull. We might as well use the time to gather our thoughts. To review our achievements, the lessons weve learned and analyse our shortfalls; to evaluate in the fullest sense the potential that was Shaheen Bagh, what it signified for the Muslims as a community and for the citizens of this diverse nation. That would be a good way to do your time, dont you think?

Life for you, particularly since the sedition case in JNU since 2016, has been more like a rush in the head. It has been one of constant looking over the shoulder. It has also been one of being pricked by both foes and friends. Maybe this hiatus will bring some pause, if not peace. As for some of us, it is like a constant (at times even annoying) drone around our ears has suddenly ceased. But as we said before, we hope we never get used to the lull, the void.

Meanwhile, let the physical mulakaat in jail start. We will bring you to speed with all that is worth. And if the gatekeepers are still reading, the first letters of the last words of the first ten paras make for a message.

Until next time,

Daisy & Ban

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An open letter to Umar Khalid: If you are doing time, you may as well do it well - Scroll.in

Gambling’s place in golf is being cemented this week in Vegas in real time – usatoday.com

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

If you have been watching the CJ Cup on the PGA Tour this weekend, you have witnessed something you have never seen before.

No, not Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. That ultra-, ultra-, ultra-exclusive golf course has been on television before as the site of The Match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

What you are seeing for the first time in a PGA Tour event is live betting odds. And not just running on a crawl at the bottom of the screen or quietly tucked along the side of the picture. These are odds that are being promoted and talked about and updated on a live basis.

As the PGA Tour and other sports begin understanding that there might be a revenue source with accepting gambling as part of the sports fans experience, the organizations have started forming partnerships with gambling companies. ESPN and other sports outlets have also begun airing shows devoted entirely to gambling.

But this is the first time that an official PGA Tour event is talking upfront about odds and gambling on air. Yes, The Match in 2018 did have a lot of talk about which player would win this hole or that hole or the match entirely. But that was not an official tour event like the limited-field CJ Cup.

It is appropriate, of course, that the first open talk of gambling on a PGA Tour event is at a tournament in Las Vegas on a course built by casino owner Steve Wynn. You can walk into pretty much any casino in Las Vegas, find the sportsbook and put down a bet on who will win a PGA Tour event that week or even some proposition bets pitting one player against another for the day or the week.

None of this is possible in California, of course, as the state continues to drag its feet badly on legalizing sports gaming in the state. Yes, there are a few ways around that for California residents, but you cant walk into a sportsbook or in a tribal casino and place a sports bet.

The PGA Tour is all in on the sports gambling trend. The tour has deals with Draft Kings, Fan Duel, PointsBet and BetMGM as partners. The tour has said that it may provide an area at tournaments in states where gaming is legal so fans can make a bet on site. And now comes the official talk of odds on the golf course, either to win the tournament outright or to be the low player in a pairing on the day.

It will only be a matter of time before different players on the tour are sponsored by different gambling companies. You can see big billboards springing up the week of a tournament, saying, Hi, bet on me at BetMGM!

Should there be a concern about making betting on the PGA Tour or any sports so open and above board? The sports clearly dont think so. There was a time when sports organizations avoided talk of betting and Las Vegas like the plague. Now the NFL has a team in Las Vegas, as does the WNBA. More and more sports are approving sports gambling in some form seemingly by the month.

And the sports have worked hard to ensure there are protections against the issues that caused them to run away from gambling before, issues like point shaving and crooked players or officials.

You may never place a bet on a sports event in your life, other than perhaps an annual lunch on who is going to win the big college rivalry game. But golfers are a different breed. A golfer can probably think of a dozen better games in any aspect of the sport. If might be fascinating to get four top pros together and have them play a televised game of Wolf. That might drive the books in Las Vegas crazy.

So look at the odds this week and do with them what you will. Ignore them or find a way to put them into action. But dont think this will be the last time the PGA Tour talks about odds on a broadcast. This might just be the beginning.

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at Sun.@Larry_Bohannan. Support local journalism: Subscribe to the Desert Sun.

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Gambling's place in golf is being cemented this week in Vegas in real time - usatoday.com

Gamblers are betting on Trump and Biden’s chances as Biden pours more money into Texas – WFAA.com

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

As the campaign for president enters the final stretch, former Vice President Joe Biden makes a big ad buy in Texas- and betters are wagering on who will win.

President Trump is leading in recent polls in Texas, but it has been close.

So, the Joe Biden campaign-- hoping to pull off the first win by a Democrat at the top of the ticket in Texas since 1976--is planning to spend $6.2 million in TV ads in the final weeks of the campaign, USA Today reports. Their biggest spend in the state: $2.6 Million in D-FW.

In contrast, USA Today reports that President Trump isn't planning to buy any commercials here right now, because his campaign says this is "Trump country."

Politico has also published this document on advertising analytics, which expects about $25 million total to be spent on election spots in Texas this year.

Thats a decent chunk of money, but pales in comparison to what is being laid out in big battlegrounds like Florida ($339 million) and Pennsylvania ($288 million).

Betting money says Trump wins Texas, but Biden wins the election

People placing wagers on the political gambling site PredictIt firmly believe Trump takes Texas.

But overall, the betting money right now says that Biden wins the presidency. In fact, right now the money is also on a Democratic sweep of the White House, the Senate and the House as well.

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Gamblers are betting on Trump and Biden's chances as Biden pours more money into Texas - WFAA.com

Pro Gamblers Accuse NV Bookmaker Of Cheating On In-Game Bets – Sports Handle

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Is a leading sportsbook in the U.S., a dominant player in the Nevada market, creating an unfair advantage against some customers? Some gamblers say the book is cheating, while others say the problem might not reach that threshold. Its a complex situation that impacts the sports betting industry broadly.

William Hill US has been accused by at least two prominent sports bettors of intentionally delaying the acceptance of in-game wagers in the Silver State, depending on if the wager is good or bad for the book. In other words, theyre saying its allegedly not a technology shortcoming, but a deliberate attempt by the book to boost its winning percentage against gamblers.

But some in the industry say the problem is the result of an unintentional bias in a less than ideal product, with it possibly impacting bettors evenly. Most people do agree there is an issue.

In a statement to Sports Handle, William Hill flatly denied the claims, and indicated it may seek legal action against one of the accusers.

Prominent sports bettors Bill Krackomberger and Rufus Peabody, who both host popular sports gambling podcasts, brought up the William Hill issue earlier this month, in Week 5 of the NFL season, and it received a fair amount of attention on social media. Both gamblers have 28,000 or more followers on Twitter, which resulted in a significant amount of feedback on the claims. Its unclear what the catalyst was that reignited the debate on social media on Oct. 11.

This wasnt the first time William Hill has been accused of cheating on social media by declining a wager before changing the line. One gambler reported an instance of that in late 2019.

I have not experienced it personally (they wont let me bet), but I have experienced a lot of other shenanigans over the years when they did, and I do know many people who have experienced it directly, Peabody, who makes his living through sports betting, told Sports Handle.

Krackomberger said William Hill is the only offender in Las Vegas with regards to in-game betting.

William Hill is the only book in Las Vegas that uses the spin/hold in queue delay process, Krackomberger told Sports Handle. What that does is it gives them a chance to look at your bet then check to see if they are in line with the market. Whereas other sportsbooks have to remain on top of their game by constantly changing lines, William Hill doesnt have to do this. Basically, the customers can play bookmaker for them since they dont have instant approval software.

He added that William Hill can and will sometimes delay the customer and not accept a bet after watching the next play if its in the players favor. Conversely, if the next play works against the player they will accept it.

Furthermore, William Hill already has a 7-10-second TV [broadcasting] delay working in their favor, he said. This spin delay is on top of that.

Krackomberger said he doesnt have any confidence that the Nevada Gaming Control Board would step in to address this situation. Gaming wouldnt even understand the situation, he said.

William Hill responded to Krackomberger specifically in its statement to Sports Handle.

Its an absolutely outrageous allegation, a William Hill spokesperson said. Mr. Krackomberger long has been a critic of William Hill. To criticize us is fine, but to accuse us of cheating is not. We believe this constitutes defamation and are consulting with counsel regarding next steps.

Ed Miller, co-author of the 2019 book The Logic of Sports Betting and a longtime industry observer, chalked up the issue to the bet delay and rejection mechanic.

Operators often place bets in a queue and intentionally sit on them for a specified period of time, Miller told Sports Handle. I noticed that period on William Hills old in-play product was sometimes up to eight seconds. Then any time the operators traders (or the traders at the third party line providers in many cases) make a line change, all the bets sitting in the queue (on any side or proposition) get rejected. The problem is that traders tend to move lines when they are offering their customers better bets.

According to Miller, William Hill isnt necessarily up to anything scandalous.

There may not be bad intent, but the result of the delay/reject policy is that it tends to be biased toward canceling the better bets that customers make, he explained. The longer the delay period, the stronger this bias is. I think its fair to think of this mechanic as offering the operator a button they can press at any time at their sole discretion that amounts to oops we made a mistake, undo the last X seconds. I noticed that this season William Hill both seems to have shortened their delay period substantially in football, and they make fewer small line changes during breaks in play (i.e. they are also choosing to press the button less frequently).

William Hill is improving, according to Miller, who is also co-founder of Deck Prism Sports, an in-game betting odds technology that he hopes will improve the vertical for the nascent U.S. sports gambling industry. William Hills in-play betting is becoming a fairer product for the customer, according to Miller.

However, I believe a truly fair product would have zero delay at all, zero bet rejections, and William Hills product hasnt gotten there yet, Miller said. In some sports (perhaps basketball for instance), this goal is tricky and may take time to attain. But I think in football because the ball is dead during 90% of the time elapsed that this zero delay goal is more than achievable, and I believe sports bettors should be demanding it of their books.

Another prominent professional sports bettor who wished to remain anonymous offered this explanation:

I also dont think its cheatingthey have an inefficient process for approving live bets, he told Sports Handle. I think it affects all patrons evenly. When I live bet at William Hill, I bet $100 segments because I know they wont be manually reviewed and will go through quicker.

Typically, a sportsbook holds between 5-7% of its entire handle in the form of revenue. Its unclear what hold percentage sportsbooks have for in-game wagering specifically, but the vig is often a bit higher than on pregame selections. In the U.S., total betting volume from pre-game wagering still trumps in-game betting, in terms of handle. But that is expected to change in the years ahead as sports wagering evolves, and so books are looking to beef up their in-app sports streaming capabilities.

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Pro Gamblers Accuse NV Bookmaker Of Cheating On In-Game Bets - Sports Handle

Almirall, SA (ALM) announces approval of the reimbursed price for Ilumetri (tildrakizumab) in France for the treatment of adult patients with severe…

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

BARCELONA, Spain, Oct. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Almirall, S.A. (ALM)announced today that it has signed an agreement with the French Authorities to make the biologic treatment ILUMETRI (tildrakizumab), a high-affinity IL-23p19 monoclonal antibody, available in France for the treatment of adult patients with severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for biological systemic therapy.

The agreement has been signed after the Commission of Transparency of the Haute Autorit de Sant(HAS), the French National Health Authority, provided a favourable opinion for the reimbursement in France of ILUMETRI (tildrakizumab) on June 3rd and considered the actual benefit (Service Mdical Rendu or SMR) as "important". Theprevalenceof chronic plaque psoriasis among theFrenchpopulation is around 5,6%.

Following the publication of the agreement in the French Official Journal, Ilumetri (tildrakizumab) will be included in the list of reimbursable medicines by the social insurance for the treatment of adults with severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

"Today's announcement represents great news for those patients with severe psoriasis across France who can count on a safe and convenient biological treatment for their condition. Ilumetri provides sustained high efficacy and safety, and improves patients' quality of life"said Alfredo Barn, Chief Commercial Officer of Almirall. "We are glad we could collaborate with French authorities to find an agreement to provide sustainable access to an additional biologic treatment option for patients suffering from this skin disease through a national reimbursement agreement," he added.

Ilumetri (tildrakizumab) is the first biologic marketed by Almirall and constitutes an important step forward in the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Since its approval by the European Commission in November of 2018, the product has been,offering a decisive benefit to patients as it has the longest efficacy and safety data among the IL23p19s.Ilumetri is reimbursed in 10 countries around Europe, including recent agreements in Belgium and Italy.

Tildrakizumab is administered by subcutaneous injection. Its dosing regimen, with lower frequency of injections, only 4 injections per year during maintenance1, offers convenience and quality of life for patients, potentially achieving an improved treatment satisfaction and improving adherence to treatment.

References

SOURCE Almirall, S.A. (ALM)

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Almirall, SA (ALM) announces approval of the reimbursed price for Ilumetri (tildrakizumab) in France for the treatment of adult patients with severe...

Evelo Biosciences to Host Key Opinion Leader Discussion Focused on the Unmet Need in Psoriasis and Atopic Dermatitis and the Potential Opportunity for…

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evelo Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: EVLO), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new modality of orally delivered, systemically acting biologics, today announced that it will host a key opinion leader discussion on the unmet need in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, including the potential of EDP1815 to serve as a new therapeutic option for patients living with mild to moderate disease. The event will be held virtually on Thursday, October 22, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET.

As part of the event, Benjamin Ehst, M.D., Ph.D., Board-certified Dermatologist, Investigator and Clinical Associate Professor with the Oregon Medical Research Center, will discuss the current treatment landscape and unmet need in psoriasis. Additionally, Evelo management will host a panel discussion with Dr. Ehst to review the opportunity for EDP1815 in atopic dermatitis. Evelos management team will also review the design of its recently initiated Phase 2 trial in psoriasis and provide an overview of the clinical data generated with EDP1815 to date, as well as the Companys platform and upcoming milestones.

To access the live event, please dial (866) 795-3242 (domestic) or (409) 937-8909 (international) and refer to conference ID 1552379. A live webcast of the event will also be available under News and Events in the Investors section of Evelo's website at http://ir.evelobio.com. The archived webcast will be available on Evelo's website approximately two hours after the completion of the event and will be available for 30 days following the call.

About Dr. Benjamin EhstDr. Benjamin Ehst is a board-certified dermatologist and clinical associate professor at Oregon Medical Research Center.

Dr. Ehst spent his early career at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) as an associate professor in the Department of Dermatology. He honed his specialty in psoriasis as a member of the Center of Excellence in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis, eventually taking over as co-director of the multidisciplinary center. Additionally, Dr. Ehst organized a specialty clinic caring for skin-related issues in HIV-infected individuals.

Alongside patient care and teaching, Dr. Ehst began his work in clinical research while at OHSU, acting as lead investigator for studies on treatments for skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, granuloma annulare, actinic keratosis and melanoma.

Dr. Ehst earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and his medical and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota in a combined Medical Scientist Training Program. He received his residency training in Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and solidified his interest in medical practice and clinical research while studying the immune response to malaria at the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

About Evelo BiosciencesEvelo Biosciences is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing oral biologics that act on SINTAX, the small intestinal axis, with systemic therapeutic effects. SINTAX plays a central role in governing the immune, metabolic and neurological systems. The companys first product candidates are pharmaceutical preparations of single strains of microbes selected for defined pharmacological properties. Evelos therapies have the potential to be effective, safe, and affordable medicines to improve the lives of people with inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Evelo currently has four product candidates in development: EDP1815, EDP1867, and EDP2939 for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and COVID-19, and EDP1503 for the treatment of cancer. Evelo is advancing additional product candidates in other disease areas.

For more information, please visit http://www.evelobio.com and engage with Evelo on LinkedIn.

ContactEvelo BiosciencesJessica Cotrone, 978-760-5622jcotrone@evelobio.com

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Evelo Biosciences to Host Key Opinion Leader Discussion Focused on the Unmet Need in Psoriasis and Atopic Dermatitis and the Potential Opportunity for...

High blood pressure warning – the change on your skin that could signal you’re at risk – Express

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

What's more, there was a correlation between the severity of psoriasis and high blood pressure.

According to the NHS, in severe cases of psoriasis, the skin around your joints may crack and bleed.

"Treatments are determined by the type and severity of your psoriasis, and the area of skin affected," explains the health body.

It adds: "Your doctor will probably start with a mild treatment, such as topical creams applied to the skin, and then move on to stronger treatments if necessary."

If your psoriasis is linked to high blood pressure, you should overhaul aspects of your lifestyle to lower you reading.

Improving your diet is integral to this effort and one of the quickest and most effective countermeasures is to cut back on salt.

According to Action on Salt, a research outfit based at Queen Mary University of London, a high salt diet disrupts the natural sodium balance in the body.

"This causes the body to retain water, which increases the pressure of the pushing of blood against the vessel walls," warns the health body.

"As a nation, if we can cut one gram of salt from our average daily salt intake, there would be approximately 6,000 fewer deaths from strokes and heart attacks each year in the UK," it says.

According to the NHS, eating a low-fat diet that includes lots of fibre, such as wholegrain rice, bread and pasta, and plenty of fruit and vegetables also helps lower blood pressure.

"Being active and taking regular exercise lowers blood pressure by keeping your heart and blood vessels in good condition," notes the health body.

Adults should do at least 150 minutes (two hours and 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week, it adds.

Evelo Biosciences Treats First Patients in Phase 2 Dose-Ranging Trial of EDP1815 for the Treatment of Psoriasis – GlobeNewswire

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Interim data expected by mid-2021

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evelo Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:EVLO), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new modality of orally delivered, systemically acting biologics, today announced that it has dosed the first patients in its Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating EDP1815 for the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis. EDP1815 is an investigational oral biologic in development for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and COVID-19.

We are pleased to announce the dosing of the first patients in our Phase 2 clinical trial in mild to moderate psoriasis, said Duncan McHale, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Evelo. In Phase 1b studies, EDP1815 demonstrated an ability to resolve systemic inflammation and provide clinical benefit to patients with psoriasis. Based on these data, EDP1815 may offer an improved profile to existing products and others in development. EDP1815 has the potential to be an effective, well-tolerated, and convenient medicine for millions of patients with mild to moderate psoriasis. Our Phase 2 trial, if successful, will enable us to advance into confirmatory registrational studies, following meetings with health authorities such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). We look forward to interim data by mid-2021, as we continue to progress this important therapy toward market.

EDP1815-201 is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging Phase 2 trial designed to evaluate three doses of the enteric capsule formulation of EDP1815 versus placebo in 225 patients with mild to moderate psoriasis over a 16-week treatment period. The primary endpoint is mean reduction in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score at 16 weeks. Key secondary endpoints include other clinical measures of disease such as Physicians Global Assessment (PGA), Body Surface Area (BSA), PGA x BSA, Psoriasis Symptom Inventory (PSI), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and Lesion Severity Score (LSS). Interim data from the study is expected by mid-2021.

About EDP1815 in Psoriasis EDP1815 is an investigational oral biologic being developed for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.EDP1815 is a strain ofPrevotella histicola, selected for its specific pharmacology. In thesecondandthirdquarter of 2019, Evelo reported positive Phase 1b interim clinical data in two cohorts of patients with mild to moderate psoriasis. EDP1815 was well tolerated at both doses, with no overall difference reported from placebo. There was a reduction in mean LSS and PASI score after 28 days of dosing in both cohorts who received EDP1815. In the high dose cohort alone, there was a continued reduction in both mean LSS (of 24% vs. placebo of 7%) and PASI score (of 21% vs. placebo of 3%) at 42 days 14 days following the last dose of the drug. This may indicate a sustained clinical effect and dose response. EPD1815 was also observed to limit the systemic production of multiple inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-8, TNF, and IL-1, which are well-established mediators of potentially harmful effects in patients with inflammatory diseases.

About PsoriasisPsoriasis is a common chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease, affecting up to 3% of the population worldwide. The disease is driven by Th17-inflammation, which results in the formation of thickened red plaques with scaling. Psoriatic lesions can appear anywhere on the body but are most often seen on the knees, elbows, scalp, and lumbar area. There is a strong association with psoriatic arthritis, depression, and metabolic syndrome.

Patients with mild to moderate psoriasis are underserved by current treatments, including topical therapies, which do not control systemic inflammation, have low rates of compliance, or in the case of potent topical steroids, are not recommended for long-term use. The majority of novel therapies, including injectable high-cost biologics, are only approved for patients with moderate to severe disease. Even in this patient population, the majority of eligible patients do not receive biologics, instead opting for topical or oral systemic therapies, which are associated with tolerability issues and/or with monitoring requirements tied to safety concerns.

For more information, please visit http://www.evelobio.com and engage with Evelo on LinkedIn.

Forward Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements concerning the timing and results of any clinical trials or readouts for EDP1815, our development plans, and the promise and potential impact of EDP1815 or our other product candidates.

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, including our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and the continuity of our business; we have incurred significant losses, are not currently profitable and may never become profitable; our need for additional funding; our limited operating history; our unproven approach to therapeutic intervention; the lengthy, expensive, and uncertain process of clinical drug development, including potential delays in regulatory approval; our reliance on third parties and collaborators to expand our microbial library, conduct our clinical trials, manufacture our product candidates, and develop and commercialize our product candidates, if approved; our lack of experience in manufacturing, selling, marketing, and distributing our product candidates; failure to compete successfully against other drug companies; protection of our proprietary technology and the confidentiality of our trade secrets; potential lawsuits for, or claims of, infringement of third-party intellectual property or challenges to the ownership of our intellectual property; our patents being found invalid or unenforceable; risks associated with international operations; our ability to retain key personnel and to manage our growth; the potential volatility of our common stock; our management and principal stockholders have the ability to control or significantly influence our business; costs and resources of operating as a public company; unfavorable or no analyst research or reports; and securities class action litigation against us.

These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, and our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

ContactJessica Cotrone, 978-760-5622jcotrone@evelobio.com

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Evelo Biosciences Treats First Patients in Phase 2 Dose-Ranging Trial of EDP1815 for the Treatment of Psoriasis - GlobeNewswire

SIMPONI ARIA (golimumab) for the Treatment of pJIA – Clinical Trials Arena

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

SIMPONI ARIA (golimumab) is a fully human monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA). Credit: Janssen Biotech, Inc. The 4ml single-use vial of SIMPONI ARIA contains 50mg of golimumab. Credit: A2-33. SIMPONI ARIA acts as a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-blocker.

SIMPONI ARIA (golimumab) is a fully human anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) alpha monoclonal antibody.

It is indicated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in adult patients, as well as active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) and active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients aged two years and older.

SIMPONI ARIA is available in a single-use vial as a colourless to a light-yellow solution in 50mg / 4ml (12.5mg / ml) dosage strength for intravenous administration.

Discovered and developed by Janssen Biotech, golimumab was initially approved as a subcutaneous injection under the trade name Simponi by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of RA, PsA and AS in adult patients in 2009.

SIMPONI was approved in Europe for the treatment of moderate-to-severe RA, active and progressive PsA, severe, active AS, active ulcerative colitis, severe active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis and pJIA.

In July 2013, the intravenous form of golimumab obtained FDA approval under the trade name Simponi Aria for the treatment of moderate-to-severe active RA in combination with methotrexate (MTX).

The company submitted two supplemental biologics license applications (sBLAs) for Simponi Aria to the FDA for the treatment of PsA and AS in adult patients in December 2016. The applications were approved in October 2017.

The FDA also received two sBLAs for Simponi Aria for the treatment of active pJIA and PsA in paediatric patients in April 2020. The drug was approved for the indications in September 2020.

SIMPONI ARIA is marketed in 24 countries for one or more of the aforementioned indications.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), previously known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, is an arthritis-like inflammatory condition in children characterised by joint swelling, stiffness and pain, persistent for at least six weeks.

The polyarticular form of JIA is most common and is characterised by inflammation in more than four joints, closely resembling adult RA.

PsA is a chronic inflammatory disease characterised by both joint inflammation and skin lesions associated with psoriasis. PsA in paediatric patients is one of the rarest forms of JIA, observed in 2% to 11% of JIA patients.

Other characteristics of psoriatic arthritis include finger and nail defects or complications with the eye.

Golimumab is an anti-TNF biologic agent that binds to soluble and transmembrane bioactive forms of human TNF-alpha, a cytokine protein whose overproduction in the body leads to several chronic inflammatory diseases.

Inhibition of the interaction of TNF-alpha to its receptors inhibits its biological activity.

FDA approval of SIMPONI ARIA for pJIA is based on results from the open-label, multi-centre, phase three clinical trial, GO-VIVA.

SIMPONI ARIA is available in a single-use vial as a colourless to a light-yellow solution in 50mg / 4ml (12.5mg / ml) dosage strength for intravenous administration.

The trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of SIMPONI ARIA in 127 patients with pJIA aged two years to 17 years, following MTX treatment for at least two months.

The efficacy of the drug was consistent with responses in adult patients with RA through 52 weeks.

SIMPONI ARIAs pharmacokinetic (PK) exposure was consistent with the two pivotal phase three clinical trials in adult patients with moderate-to-severe active RA and active PsA.

The safety profile established for SIMPONI ARIA in paediatric patients was also consistent with the results in adult RA and PsA patients.

Common side-effects of SIMPONI ARIA reported in patients during the clinical trial are viral infections, upper respiratory tract infection, increased levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, decreased neutrophil count, rash, bronchitis and high blood pressure.

COVID-19 Impact on Chronic Plaque Psoriasis Therapeutics Market New Trends, Size, Share, Growth, Outlook, Overview, Application and Forecast 2020 to…

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

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COVID-19 Impact on Chronic Plaque Psoriasis Therapeutics Market New Trends, Size, Share, Growth, Outlook, Overview, Application and Forecast 2020 to...

Can-Fite to Host Conference Call to Update Shareholders on Positive Interim Results of its Phase III Psoriasis Study on October 15, 2020 – BioSpace

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Oct. 13, 2020 11:00 UTC

PETACH TIKVA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address inflammatory, cancer and liver diseases, today announced it will host a conference call with investors to provide an update on its Phase III psoriasis study and the positive interim data analysis and recommendations from the studys Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC). Dr. Michael Goldfarb, M.D., Dermatologist, Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., a key opinion leader in the treatment of psoriasis, will join the call which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 4:15 pm EDT.

Piclidenoson, Can-Fites lead drug candidate, offers several potential key benefits over psoriasis treatments currently on the market. As an oral pill taken twice daily, it offers ease of administration for patients who tend to prefer oral medications over injectables. As an oral drug, the Company believes Piclidenoson may be priced at a significantly lower cost than injectable biologics, and somewhat lower than the current oral medication on the market, Otezla. A 2018 study on psoriasis patient preferences published in American Health & Drug Benefits showed the two most important considerations for choosing a psoriasis drug were route of administration and cost, with oral administration and lower cost being most preferred.

Piclidenoson has been dosed in over 1,500 patients with an excellent safety profile in clinical trials to date. In contrast, the biologics on the market approved to treat psoriasis have black box warnings. While psoriasis is a serious disease with quality of life implications for patients, it is not life threatening and therefore patients recognize that while they need a treatment that is effective, safety is also a very high priority.

With an estimated 125 million cases worldwide, psoriasis is considered an immune system problem that causes infections, stress and is a chronic disease with no cure. The market size for psoriasis is estimated to be $11.5 billion at the end of 2020.

The call will take place on Thursday, October 15th 2020 at 4:15 pm EDT. Investors in the U.S. are invited to dial 1-877-423-9813. International investors may dial 1-201-689-8573. The conference ID is 13711928.

Investors may also participate via webcast: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=141970

A replay of the webcast will be archived on Can-Fites website for a period of time.

About Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE: CFBI) is an advanced clinical stage drug development Company with a platform technology that is designed to address multi-billion dollar markets in the treatment of cancer, liver, inflammatory disease and COVID-19. The Company's lead drug candidate, Piclidenoson, is currently in a Phase III trial for rheumatoid arthritis/psoriasis and a Phase II study in the treatment of moderate COVID-19. Can-Fite's liver drug, Namodenoson, is headed into a Phase III trial for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, and successfully achieved its primary endpoint in a Phase II trial for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Namodenoson has been granted Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and Europe and Fast Track Designation as a second line treatment for HCC by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Namodenoson has also shown proof of concept to potentially treat other cancers including colon, prostate, and melanoma. CF602, the Company's third drug candidate, has shown efficacy in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. These drugs have an excellent safety profile with experience in over 1,500 patients in clinical studies to date. For more information please visit: http://www.can-fite.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, about Can-Fites expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding, among other things, market risks and uncertainties, its product development efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies or prospects. In addition, from time to time, Can-Fite or its representatives have made or may make forward-looking statements, orally or in writing. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as believe, expect, intend, plan, may, should or anticipate or their negatives or other variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. These forward-looking statements may be included in, but are not limited to, various filings made by Can-Fite with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, press releases or oral statements made by or with the approval of one of Can-Fites authorized executive officers. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause Can-Fites actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause Can-Fites actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: our history of losses and needs for additional capital to fund our operations and our inability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; uncertainties of cash flows and inability to meet working capital needs; the impact of the recent outbreak of coronavirus; the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical studies, clinical trials and other product candidate development efforts; our ability to advance our product candidates into clinical trials or to successfully complete our preclinical studies or clinical trials; our receipt of regulatory approvals for our product candidates, and the timing of other regulatory filings and approvals; the clinical development, commercialization and market acceptance of our product candidates; our ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships and other corporate collaborations; the implementation of our business model and strategic plans for our business and product candidates; the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our product candidates and our ability to operate our business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others; competitive companies, technologies and our industry; statements as to the impact of the political and security situation in Israel on our business; and risks and other risk factors detailed in Can-Fites filings with the SEC and in its periodic filings with the TASE. In addition, Can-Fite operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond its control. Can-Fite does not undertake any obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Can-Fite to Host Conference Call to Update Shareholders on Positive Interim Results of its Phase III Psoriasis Study on October 15, 2020 - BioSpace

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